Jennfier Zdon / T-Picayune ArchiveGrammy Award-winning jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard and his wife/manager, Robin Burgess, are expected to help book events at the new museum.

Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu and Interior Department Deputy Secretary Lynn Scarlett signed off Thursday, Jan. 8, on plans to transform the third floor of the Old U.S. Mint on Esplanade Avenue into a multimillion-dollar jazz performance space and museum.

Construction is scheduled to commence in August, with the grand opening slated for spring 2010.

Grammy Award-winning modern jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard and his wife/manager, Robin Burgess, are expected to help book concerts and educational programs. Early in the conception phase of the project, Landrieu invited Blanchard and Burgess to walk through the Mint and describe what they would want in a world-class venue.

"This project is not about preserving the past," Blanchard said. "It's about recognizing the past and moving into the future."

Plans call for a modular 4,000-square-foot performance space with seven different stage configurations. An on-site studio will make live concert recordings and radio broadcasts possible.

Courtesy of Eskew+Dumez+RippleThis is a rendering of the Eskew+Dumez+Ripple design for the theater of the multimillion-dollar jazz performance space and museum set to open in spring 2010 in the Old U.S. Mint.

Architect Allen Eskew of local firm Eskew+Dumez+Ripple said his design would incorporate "the best of both worlds," marrying the "old bones" of the 173 year old building to progressive technology.

The project is a state/federal partnership involving the Louisiana State Museum, which owns the Old U.S. Mint, the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism and the U.S. Department of the Interior and National Park Service. The state and the National Park Service have each dedicated $2 million to the project.

As part of the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, the beefed-up museum will incorporate the State Museum's already substantial collection of jazz artifacts. That collection includes sheet music, manuscripts, photographs, records -- including what is thought to be the first jazz recording, from 1917 -- and instruments such as Louis Armstrong's first cornet.

As recently as June, the state and federal entities involved had not resolved issues related to the project's financing and allocation of space within the Old U.S. Mint. "This baby was a long time in birthing," Landrieu said. "It took a lot of meetings and a lot of negotiation."

The project is moving forward as a result of "shared funding and shared vision," Scarlett said.

The Old U.S. Mint is steps from the Frenchmen Street entertainment district, where numerous music clubs, including jazz bistro Snug Harbor, thrive. Snug Harbor music director Jason Patterson welcomed the idea of a new venue nearby. "More jazz activity is good for us all," he said.

Still, he cautioned that operating a jazz venue, even in the city of the music's birth, is not an easy proposition. Numerous jazz clubs have come and gone during Snug Harbor's 20 year history. "You really need to know how to do a jazz club in this town to make it a success," Patterson said.

Burgess hopes to develop a jazz subscription series similar to those of local opera and ballet companies, where patrons buy a season's worth of tickets. She believes a high-end jazz venue can attract the sort of high-profile jazz tours that routinely bypass New Orleans.

"I think New Orleans can support this," she said. "We have to make sure we are methodical with what we present. We've got to get things done that other cities have going on."

New Orleans talent already travels throughout the world, Landrieu noted. "This," he said, "is designed to bring the world to us. Our music is second to none. Now this venue will be too."